LAHORE - The historic Pak Tea House, which was once known for its literary activities, had was closed in 2000 and then reopened in 2013.

Five years later, in 2018, literary activities at Pak Tea House are once again feared to be coming to an end. The new administration of Pak Tea House took oath of office on April 1 this year and it has been trying to highlight this historical place’s problems since.

A delegation of Halqa Arbab-e-Zoq consisting of Hussain Majrooh, Dr Amjad Tufail and Aqeel Akhter met the Walled City Authority director and discussed the problems facing Pak Tea House. The DG promised he would resolve the issue of parking at Pak Tea House. After replacement of mirrors at the upper portion of Pak Tea House, noise pollution now disrupts proceedings of literary sessions. The sound system of the building needs to be replaced.  The delegation demanded that upper portion of Pak Tea House should be reserved only for writers. Some visitors to Pak Tea House however oppose this idea.

Halqa Arbab-e-Zoq Secretary Aqeel Akhter told The Nation that the new administration is trying to solve the problems. Halqa Arbab-e-Zoq Joint Secretary Baber Riaz said the problems are genuine and need to be solved on an urgent basis so that people who attend proceedings of literary sessions can have a peaceful environment.

Pak Tea House is located on The Mall Road and it was established in 1940. At that time, it was called India Tea House. Some of the famous minds of Pakistani literature visited the place and attended session here such as Intizar Hussain, Meera Ji, Saadat Hasan Manto, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Kamal Ahmed Rizvi and Munir Niazi.  Pak Tea House was originally set up by two Sikh brothers and the sessions were regularly conducted till 2000 when it was closed due financial loses.